Essaouira Gnaoua Festival is held annually in Morocco in the port resort of Essaouira and is known as one of Morocco’s leading festivals. The festival celebrates the music of the Gnaoua’s combining African rhythms with Islamic rituals, with up to 500,000 visitors every year over four days. Numbers are boosted by the fact that many of the performances can be viewed for free, which complicates comparison with other festivals.